• The March of Ides: a frontrunner in Melbourne’s fine-dining scene opens a sexy 26-seat bar on Smith Street.

• It’s just off Swanston Street, but Leonie Upstairs – Carlton’s new sake and sushi sanctuary – feels a world away.

• These are all the new Melbourne restaurant, cafe and bar openings we got excited about in August.

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• Farmers Daughters’ sophisticated new restaurant, Victoria, has a “region in residence” program to hero different regions at different times. First cab off the rank? Ballarat and surrounds.

• Ramen, bento boxes, Korean street food and more: a lofty 600-square-metre North Melbourne warehouse is reborn as new multicultural food hall Ezistreat.

• Fitzroy North’s longstanding Royal Oak Hotel is now a big burgundy boozer with Marquis of Lorne DNA. Go for pub classics, plus spiced lamb cigars with harissa, and fried onion rings with sour cream and chives.

• Now open: matcha-pandan waffles by day, biang biang noodles by night at Glen Iris’s new two-pronged eatery, called both Pantry Glen Iris and Too Good Talker.

• Love beer? Love cannoli? Moon Dog and Cannoleria have joined forces to create the Almighty Cannolo, a cannoli-pastry sour ale. There’ll be free cannoli at Moon Dog World to celebrate.

• La Burrata is Moonee Ponds’ new, exquisitely named Italian restaurant. The gooey cheese comes in pillowy ravioli and perched alongside confit tomatoes and aged balsamic.

• Now open: come for rigatoni ragu, stay for immaculate neighbourhood vibes at a buzzy, newly expanded wine bar in Armadale.

• “The Chocolate Queen”, a plant-based pioneer and more enter Melbourne Food & Wine Festival’s Hall of Fame. Here are all the inductees.

• The queue speaks for itself at the Japanese-inspired Kōri, Hawthorn’s new coral-coloured ice-creamery. In short, it’s bang on.